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Laboratory Maintenance of the Lower Dipteran Fly Bradysia (Sciara) coprophila: A New/Old Emerging Model Organism

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Stable structural color patterns displayed on transparent insect wings.

Ekaterina Shevtsova¹, Christer Hansson, Daniel H Janzen

¹Department of Biology, Lund University, Sölvegatan 35, SE-22362 Lund, Sweden. Ekaterina.Shevtsova@cob.lu.se

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

|January 5, 2011

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Structural color patterns, called wing interference patterns (WIPs), are newly discovered in small flying insects. These vivid colors, caused by thin film interference, are crucial for insect vision and communication.

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Area of Science:

Entomology
Biophysics
Evolutionary Biology

Background:

Color patterns are vital for insect behavior and taxonomy.
Structural colors, arising from physical interactions with light, are common in insects.
Wing interference patterns (WIPs) in transparent insect wings have been largely overlooked.

Purpose of the Study:

To report and characterize novel wing interference patterns (WIPs) in small Hymenoptera and Diptera.
To investigate the physical basis and biological significance of WIPs.
To explore the applications of WIPs in insect identification and evolutionary studies.

Main Methods:

Microscopic observation of wing structures.
Analysis of thin film interference principles.
Comparative studies across insect taxa and with insect color vision.

Main Results:

Discovery of stable, vivid WIPs in transparent insect wings caused by thin film interference.
WIPs are taxon-specific, influenced by wing micromorphology (thickness, pigmentation, venation, hairs, microstructures).
WIPs lack pure red, aligning with insect color vision, suggesting a role in visual signaling; sexually dimorphic WIPs indicate sexual selection.

Conclusions:

WIPs are a significant, overlooked feature in insect wings with implications for taxonomy and behavior.
WIPs can be used for species identification, especially in cryptic species complexes.
WIPs offer insights into wing development genetics and evolutionary pressures like sexual selection.